Michigan Ice hosting training camp at SVSU

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, September 27, 2005

While many of the game's top players are under contract with other teams, Michigan Ice owner Jason Newsham is confident he will field a talented women's fastpitch team, which he hopes to base in Midland as part of National Pro Fastpitch starting in 2007.

To that end, the Ice are holding a training camp Saturday at Saginaw Valley State University, where Newsham expects about 20 players. The camp runs from noon to 5 p.m., and admission is free to the public.

"The sky's the limit, and we're literally on the ground," Newsham said of this stage of building the team.

Newsham said he will also be in Midland on Thursday and Friday, meeting with city officials and visiting Currie Stadium, where the Ice would play their home games under his proposal to the city.

The Ice will introduce their first signed player at the camp - former Pinconning star and Grand Valley State All-American pitcher Jenny Mackson.

Newsham, a Bay City native who now lives in North Carolina, said several other former collegiate players from the area will be at the camp. They include Tara (Tigner) Gehoski (Coleman/Northwood), Kayla Stevens (Bullock Creek/Spring Arbor) and Alison Honaman (Merrill/Western Michigan).

Newsham noted that many elite players, such as those who played on last year's U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning team, will be available once their contracts with other NPF teams run out in the next two years. Newsham also has an eye on several players who will finish their collegiate eligibility next spring.

"We do feel there's enough players out there," he said. "Hutch (University of Michigan coach Carol Hutchins) knows we're there. We're going to have (scouts) out watching players through the spring, and we're going to compile a list of players to contact once their (college) season ends. We want to mix in with the veterans we get from camp with some rookies, and start building the team."